Owens receives federal Student Support Services grant

        The U.S. Department of Education announced that Owens Community College will receive a federal Student Support Services (SSS) grant in the amount of $254,261.
        SSS funding helps college students who are low income, first-generation (those whose parents do not have a four-year college degree) or students with disabilities.
        The grant will provide an array of services including academic tutoring, financial aid advice, career and college mentoring, help in choosing courses and other forms of assistance. Such services enhance academic success and make it more likely that students will graduate or transfer with the lowest possible debt.
        Many Student Support Services alumni have gone on to achieve great success, including Emmy, Tony and Academy-Award winning actress Viola Davis, U.S. Rep. Gwendolyn Moore of Wisconsin’s 4th District and Franklin Chang-Diaz, the first Hispanic astronaut.
        SSS began in 1968 and is one of the eight federal “TRIO” programs authorized by the Higher Education Act to help college students succeed in higher education. It recognizes that students whose parents do not have a college degree have more difficulties navigating the complexity of decisions that college requires for success; it bolsters students from low-income families who have not had the academic opportunities that their college peers have had and helps students with disabilities remove obstacles preventing them from thriving academically.
        TRIO SSS has been at Owens Community College since September 2015 and has served more than 200 students.
        “The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the systemic inequality and financial hardship which keep promising students from succeeding in college. Student Support Services is needed now more than ever,” said Maureen Hoyler, president of the non-profit Council for Opportunity in Education in Washington, D.C., dedicated to furthering the expansion of college opportunities for low-income, first-generation students, and students with disabilities.
        For more info, visit www.owens.edu, call 567-661-7000 or follow Owens Community College on social media.